Apple launches new iPad Air, Mac Studio, and a 27-inch 5K display

Apple launches new iPad Air, Mac Studio, and a 27-inch 5K display
HIGHLIGHTS

iPad Air is updated with an M1 processor, 5G, and a new front camera with the Center Stage feature.

M1 Ultra boasts more CPU grunt than a “16-core PC desktop” with 100W less energy, and similar graphics to the “highest-end discrete GPU” with 200W less power. This comes within Mac Studio.

The 27-inch Studio Display with 5K Retina resolution, TrueTone colors, and A13 Bionic processing under the hood.

Alongside the Apple iPhone SE, the Cupertino tech giant has also unveiled a new iPad Air, an all-new Mac Studio, and the new Studio Display. While the former two are refreshes with some chip and camera improvements, the latter two are entirely fresh in the Apple product lineup. There is also the 5nm M1 Ultra SoC in the mix, which employs the proprietary UltraFusion technique to club two M1 Maxes into a single die. Along with it comes the massive performance claims of up to 3.8x faster run than the fastest 27-inch iMac as well as 80-percent faster speeds than the 28-core Mac Pro. There is a lot to more talk about these newcomers, which we’ll get into in a bit.

But, first, let’s see how much the new devices cost.

Apple iPad Air, Mac Studio, Studio Display Price and Availability

  • Apple iPad Air will be up for order starting Friday, March 11. Its WiFi models are priced from ₹54,900 onwards and WiFi + Cellular models begin at ₹68,900. You can pick them in 64GB and 256GB storage options and color options like space grey, starlight, pink, purple, and blue.
  • You can order the Mac Studio and Studio Display starting today. Mac Studio starts at ₹1,89,900, and Studio Display at ₹1,59,900.

By the way, we have a dedicated article on the new iPhone SE. So, check that out for details pertaining to that device.

Here, let’s take a look at the rest.

Apple iPad Air Specs and Features

The new iPad Air packs an M1 chip with up to 60% faster processing and double the graphics gains than the A14 Bionic. 

The other upgrade is in the camera department, which now has a 12MP ultrawide with the Center Stage feature. The front display is a Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness, DCI-P3 color gamut, and HDR support.

There is Sub-6GHz 5G (2×2 MIMO), regular USB-C (with 2x the speed), compatibility with Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, 2nd gen Apple Pencil and iPad OS 15. 

Apple Mac Studio with Up to M1 Ultra Specs and Features

Mac Studio comes in two SKUs featuring M1 Max (up to 64GB of unified memory) and M1 Ultra (with up to 128GB of unified memory) respectively. The storage can go up to 8TB with speeds up to 7.4GB/s.

Design-wise, it looks like a Mac Mini but with 7.7 inches in width and 3.7 inches in height. For heat dissipation, there are double-sided blowers, airflow channels, and more than 4,000 perforations on the back as well as at the base. 

Apple says with the new Mac Studio, one should be able to render “massive 3D environments” and play “18 streams of ProRes video”. It is said to be capable of supporting up to four Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV simultaneously.

As for connectivity, you have ports like 4x Thunderbolt 4, 1x 10Gb Ethernet, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI, and 1x pro audio jack for high-impedance headphones or external amplified speakers at the back. On the front too, there are 2x USB-C ports (which are USB 3 on the M1 Max variant and Thunderbolt 4 on the M1 Ultra variant) and 1x SD card slot. Wireless connectivity options include WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. 

Apple Studio Display Specs and Features

Studio Display has got a 27-inch 5K Retina display with TrueTone colors, anti-reflective coating, 600 nits of brightness, 10-bit colors, and P3 color coverage. This is housed in a slim Aluminum chassis. 

The Studio Display also features a 12MP ultrawide camera with Center Stage, a six-speaker sound system with spatial audio.

It works with any Mac and you can interact with it using Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse. As for IO options, you have 3x USB-C ports, 1x Thunderbolt (with 96W of power). According to Apple, you will be able to connect up to three Studio Displays to a MacBook Pro, if something like that is part of your workflow. 

Before we finish, here’s what the M1 Ultra entails in terms of design and performance: 

For more such news, reviews, features, buying guides, and everything else tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.

G. S. Vasan

G. S. Vasan

Vasan is a word weaver and tech junkie who is currently geeking out as a news writer at Digit. View Full Profile

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